Locking device for drawers.



APPLIOATION FILED 831F127, 1909.

. Patented Mar. 1,1910.

95mmw 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

J. BODENSTEIN.

LOCKING DEVICE FOR DRAWERS.

APPLICATION FILED SBP'1K27, 1909.

Patented Mam-1, 11910.

-2 SHEETS-8HBBT 2.

, Wwwm Jar/Mia lit) JACOB BODENSTEIN, (BF HEBKIMER, NEW YORK, ASSIGNQR T0 NATIONAL DESK COMPANY, OF HERKIMER, NEW YORK.

LOCKING DEVICE FOR. DRA\VERS.

llatented Mar. ll, ltltlltl. serial No. 519,770.

T) all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, JAooB Bonnns'rnm, a citizen of the United States, residing at Herkimer, in the county of Herkimer and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Locking Devices for Drawers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates more particularly to locking devices for drawers in that type of desks in which the various drawers are adapted to be locked in their closed posi tion by the closing of a single movable part of the desk, and unlocked by the opening of such movable part. In desks having flat tops, the movable locking part is generally the top drawer, and in roll top desks it is the roll top, but it may, however, be any other suitable movable part of the desk.

The object of this invention is to provide locking devices which will not lock the drawers of the desk in their closed position but will also act as stops to prevent the drawers from being shoved into the desk beyond a predetermined position, and which are adjustable upon the drawer to regulate the distance which they can be moved inwardly in the desk so that the drawers will be arrested in proper position for locking and with their front faces all standing in the correct relation to the front of the desk, thus adding greatly to the neat and attractive appearance of the desk.

In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly in section, of a flat top desk, the drawers of which are pro vided with locking devices embodying the invention. Fig. 2 is a fragmentary sectional elevation thereof in line 2-2, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional elevation thereof showing the drawers in different positions. Fig. f is a side elevation, partly in section, of a roll top desk showing the invention applied thereto.

Like reference characters refer to like parts in the several figures.

In Figs. 13, represents a flat top desk having a series of drawers a which are locked in their closed position by closing the top drawer a of the desk, and B represents an upright locking bar which is movable vertically for locking and unlocking the drawers. Preferably this bar is slidable lengthwise in brackets 6 upon the back of the desk in the rear of the drawers, and

only serve to r t I t t is provided with a series of openings or slots I), one for each drawer, having transverse locking pins 6 secured therein. The bar B supported in the brackets E) and normally pressed downwardly by a spring C which is secured to the uppermost bracket, and is adapted to yield sufficiently to permit the bar to be raised.

Each of the drawers a is provided with a locking device D which is adjustably secured to the rear end of the drawer and is adapted to enter one of the slots 6 in the locking bar l3 and engage the pin 6 therein whenthe drawer is closed. This locking device preferably comprises a screw-threaded bolt 03 which passes through the end of the drawer and is secured therein by nuts cl cl arranged on opposite sides thereof which permit of endwise adjustment of the bolt upon the drawer. The bolt d has an elongated head E which is provided on the underside with an inclined or beveled. face 6 which terminates in a downwardly opening notch c", the rear wall of which projects downwardly beyond the front wall. thereof to form a stop c The spring C normally holds the locking bar B in its lowered. position as shown in Fig. 3, and when the bar is in this position the stop 6 is adapted to strike the pinb in closing the drawer, thus arresting the inward movement of the drawer in the desk. To lock the drawers it is necessary to raise the locking bar a sntlicient distance to lift the pins 6 into the notches c and for this purpose the following means are preferably employed:

The top drawer a is provided with a bolt F which is adjustably secured to the rear end of the drawer, preferably by nuts f, and has an elongated head j which is provided with an inclined or beveled upper face f at the end of which is an upwardly-projecting stop shoulder f In closing the drawer the head f enters the upper slot Z) in the locking bar and the pin 5 slides alon the beveled face f of the head until it reaches the stop f and thus raises the locking bar to its locking position. In opening the look ing drawer, the beveled face 7 moves out of engagement with the upper pin 6 of the locking bar, permitting the bar to move downwardly under the action of the spring C to thereby unlock the remaining drawers of the desk. Obviously the described arrangement of the parts can be reversed so that the drawers will be locked by a downward instead of an upward movement of the locking bar, the locking devices D and F on the drawers being in such case reversed.

In the construction shown in Fig. l, in which the device is ap )lied to a roll top desk, the locking bar B is of the same construction as the bar already described in the flat top desk but the supporting spring 0 is arranged to normally hold this bar in its raised or looking position instead of in its lowered or unlocking position, as in the other construction, and the bar B has at its upper end a projection G which is adapted to be engaged and pressed downwardly by the roll top of the desk when the latter is opened, thus moving the locking bar to its lowered or unlocking position to release the drawers. In this construction all of the drawers, including the top drawer, are provided with the locking device D.

The locking devices D can be separately adjusted endwise on the drawers and the distance which the drawers can be moved inwardly in the desk can thus be regulated so that all of the drawers, when closed, will be in position for locking and will have their front faces standing in the same vertical plane or in the proper position relative to the front of the desk. The bolt F on the upper drawer in the fiat top construction can also be adjusted so that the front of this drawer, when closed, will be in alinement with the other drawers and the front of the desk.

The adjustable locking devices permit the drawers to be separately adjusted to their proper closed positions in assembling them in the manufacture of the desk, and also permit subsequent adjustment at any time of any of the drawers in case the same becomes necessary by reason of the shrinkage or warping of any of the parts or for any other cause.

By providing a stop for the drawer upon the locking device the necessity of employing separate stops which are independent of the locking device is done away with, and the stop and the locking device always retain the same position relative to each other, thus permitting adjustment of the stop without l l t l arrest the movement. of the drawer, and

changing the position of the locking device relative thereto nor interfering with the interlocking engagement bet-ween the locking device and the locking bar.

I claim as my invention:

1. The combination with a drawer and a movable locking bar, of a locking device adjustably secured to one of said parts and constructed to interlock with a cooperating device on the other part to hold the drawer. said locking device having a stop adapted to strike the cooperating device and. arrest the movement of the drawer, and a movable member for operating the locking bar, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination with a drawer, of a movable locking bar having a locking pin, a locking device adjustably secured to the drawer and notched to interlock with said pin to lock the drawer and also having a stop shoulder adapted to strike the pin and it movable inembe for operating the locking bar, substantially as set forth.

The combination with a drawer, ot a 1110*tll3l6 locking bar, a locking device adjustably secured to the drawer and constructed to interlock with a part on the locking bar to hold the drawer, and also having a stop adapted to strike a part on the locking bar to arrest the movement of the drawer, and a movable member for operating the locking bar, substantially as set forth.

f. The combination with a drawer, of a movable locking bar having a locking pin, av locking device adjustably secured to the drawer and notched to interlock with said pin to lock the drawer and also having a stop shoulder adapted to strike the pin and arrest the movement of the drawer, and a movable member for operating the locking bar having a stop shoulder adapted to engage the locking bar to arrest the movement. of the movable member, substantially as set forth.

\Vitness my hand, this 21st day of September, 1909.

JACOB BODENSTEIN.

Witnesses MARY K. VAN VVnrr, F. A. TINKER. 

